Method for the organization of network nodes in a packet-switched network

Abstract

There is described a method to organize a network, wherein if for a first router set up as the default gateway an inaccessibility of an assigned network element is detected at an interface of the first router a second router is set up as the logical default gateway. In this case a provision is made such that in the course of setting up the second router as the default gateway a check on the interface metric is performed at the first and/or second router and that in consequence of the inaccessibility detected for the interface an adaptation of the interface metric is carried out. The interface metric is propagated for example by way of the routing protocol OSPF and/or EIGRP and/or IS-IS to other routers. When using the method it is possible in a failure scenario with divided Layer-2 networks to avoid an occurrence of 'black holes', in other words gaps in communication. Moreover asymmetric routing, which is caused by a changeover of the logical gateway from the first router to the second router, can be eliminated. The danger of an excessive exchange of unicast messages, which can result in a high failure level of all participating network nodes and network node elements, is thus also excluded.